MARSHFIELD, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Marshfield city leaders voted Tuesday to accept a donated building. It could become the city’s next police station.
The city of Marshfield has voted to accept a donation of a building Tuesday.
It’s known as the Buffalo Building, at 2504 South Central Avenue, and the decision had come with pressure behind it.
According to the Common Council meeting’s materials, the owner had recently set a December 1 deadline for the city to decide whether to accept the donation.
The Marshfield Police Department could ultimately benefit from this acquisition, with Police Chief Jody Geurink outlining a potential need for the department to relocate due to several challenges at their current headquarters.
The new building is around 23,000 square feet, compared to the current headquarters’ 18,000 square feet. “We’ve just simply outgrown it, the building is over 40 years old, and it’s just time that we’ve filled up all the space that’s available in this building,” Geurink said, referring to their current space.
Some council members had originally been hesitant to accept the donation, because of unknown maintenance costs and the potential burden it could place on the city. “We have to go in with our eyes open, and know how much we’re going to pay for it, how much we’re willing to pay for it, and how much the taxpayers are willing to settle for it also,” said District 5 alderperson and council president Ed Wagner.
After some discussion concerning financial components, the council voted 8-1 in favor of accepting the donation, with District 9 alderperson Mike O’Reilly saying it’s a deal the city needed to take. “Somebody is coming to me with a house, fixer-upper or not, just handing it to me and saying, ‘I’m going to give this to you,’ I am absolutely going to take that house, and if it takes me five years to fix it up, to be the perfect house that I absolutely want, why would I not take it?” he said.
The future use of the property will be officially determined at another time.
